The Bombers extended their conference win streak to 15 games yesterday with a 14–2 win over Elmira College. The win improves the Bombers to 9–3 on the season and keeps their undefeated conference record intact.

Ithaca has been on a tear as of late. After outdoing RIT’s third- ranked offense last Wednesday, the team’s 14–10 win over Hartwick College Saturday set an Empire 8 record for consecutive conference wins. The two wins also bumped them back into the top 20 in the national rankings at No. 20.

Sophomore Matt Nelligan and junior Dennis Butler were also named Empire 8 player and goalie of the week, respectively. Despite the hot streak, Head Coach Jeff Long doesn’t read too far into Ithaca’s recent success.

“What happened in the past doesn’t mean anything right now,” he said.

Long said he told his players he wanted them to come out of the gate firing, and they did just that. Freshman Mike Cintineo and Nelligan scored back-to-back goals in the opening 30 seconds and the rout was on. The Bombers jumped out to an 8–1 lead at the end of the first quarter and held a 10–1 lead at halftime. Sophomore Matt Ruhnke and junior Matt Hammes consistently won faceoffs for the Blue and Gold, turning them into fast breaks that led to goals.

“They got the ball down to us quickly,” sophomore attackman Logan Bobzien said. “Ruhnke and Hammes started a lot of the fast breaks.”

Nelligan and Cintineo led the offense with four goals apiece. Senior co-captain Brandon Geluso followed with two goals and an assist. Freshman Mike Giunta netted a goal and tallied two assists. Bobzien, freshman Dwight Weld and junior Kyle Golden all tickled the twine once. Sophomore Mike Nowak had three assists, senior co-captain Matt Pugliese had two and sophomore Will Rumsey had one.

The defense, led by senior co-captain Andrew Zysk, grounded the Soaring Eagles’ offense to tie the Bombers’ season low of two goals allowed. Zysk said he forced Nazareth players to play with their off-hand.

“We took them out of their game right away,” he said. “I don’t think they wanted anything to do with us.”

The Bombers couldn’t have picked a better time to peak this season — they play seventh-ranked Nazareth College this Saturday. After RIT upset Nazareth last Saturday, the Bombers obtained sole possession of first place in the conference, and a win against the Golden Flyers this Saturday will guarantee them the all- important top seed in the conference tournament. Zysk is no stranger to this type of scenario and he recognizes the importance of peaking at the right time.

“Every year I’ve been here, this is when we play our best lacrosse,” he said. “It’s good to keep our momentum going into the last game of the regular season and especially heading into the playoffs.”